In the early years of the Festival, which started in 1993, tens of thousands attended over the weekend. As of 2014 it attracted crowds of around 100,000 on each of the three days it was held. A record crowd of 158,000 attended in 2003, before an advance-ticket-only admission policy came into force; attendance was subsequently capped at 150,000.
The Festival was founded in 1993 by the then Lord March (now the Duke of Richmond) to bring motor racing back to the Goodwood estate — a location with deep roots in British motor racing history. Shortly after taking over the estate in the early 1990s, Lord March wanted to revive racing at Goodwood Motor Circuit but did not have the necessary permit. He instead hosted the event on his own grounds.
With a small selection of invited historic vehicles, the first event took place on Sunday 20 June and drew a crowd of 25,000 despite a date clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year. The first driver to tackle the hillclimb course was Sally Mason-Styrron, in her Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta. After the second event also clashed with Le Mans, Lord March ensured that future events would never clash with either Le Mans or Formula One races.
In 1994, Saturday was added, making it a weekend event. In 1996, Friday was added, making it a three-day event. In 2010, the Moving Motor Show was added on the Thursday. The 2020 event was cancelled then later run in October combined with events at Goodwood Motor Circuit, without spectators, but streamed online and shown on terrestrial TV; it was modified to incorporate historic cars from the Revival, rally and sprint cars from the Member's Meeting, and an attempt to set a new track record. The organisers cancelled the Saturday schedule of the 2023 festival due to severe weather warnings.
The event is classified as a hillclimb and visitors are given close access to that part of the track. The 1,890-metre (1.17-mile), 9-turn course climbs 92.7 metres (304 ft) at an average gradient of 4.9%. The outright record was set in 2022 by Max Chilton in an electric McMurtry Spéirling at 39.081 seconds. The record had been held for 20 years by a Formula 1 car: 41.6 seconds set in 1999 by Nick Heidfeld in a McLaren MP4/13, the then-reigning F1 World Constructors' Champion car. While F1 cars continued to run until 2023, they did not break the 1999 record; for safety reasons they can no longer use tyre warmers or complete official timed runs, and instead perform demonstrations. The record time (though not the outright record) was already lowered in 2019 to 39.90 seconds in practice by the Volkswagen ID.R prototype electric race car, driven by Romain Dumas.
The Alpine Alpenglow Hy6 hydrogen car was refuelled by Fuel Cell Systems at the 2025 Festival, marking a demonstration of hydrogen-powered vehicles in motorsport.
From 2000 to 2004 the Soapbox Challenge was a downhill race for gravity-powered cars, starting from just below the hillclimb finish line to a finish line in front of the house. Entries came from Cosworth, Prodrive, and other companies, with drivers including Barry Sheene. Frequent accidents and escalating costs — unofficial car costs exceeded the official cap — led to the event not returning in 2005, though it was revived in 2013 with companies such as Bentley and McLaren competing.
From 2005 onward, a demonstration area for rally cars has run at the top of the hill, organised by Southern Car Club under a Motorsport UK permit. Initially an existing track through the forest was widened and cars ran down and returned up the same route, allowing only one car at a time. In 2006 a full forest stage was introduced, designed by Hannu Mikkola as a complete circuit with separate start and finish lines, allowing cars to run at timed intervals.
Since 2000 the Festival has hosted the Supercar Paddock for road-going supercars. From 2014 cars could opt to do a timed run. Specialty manufacturers regularly use the event to present their latest sports models.
Introduced in 2019, the Arena showcases drifting and stunt driving in a large tarmac area that formerly housed the Michelin Supercar Paddock. It features two barrel donuts and two wall rides, with a large viewing area above the drift paddock. Spectators can watch stunt shows, the drift competition, and the hillclimb shootout on the big screen throughout the day.
The future science and technology pavilion has been an official Festival feature since 2017. Major global reveals debuted there include autonomous trucks by Einride, the prototype flying car Airspeeder, and the autonomous delivery vehicle kar-go. The 2025 event included a 1.5-metre (4 ft 11 in) 3D-printed exhibit of Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance as part of the Seabed 2030 project. In 2018 a driverless Roborace racing car negotiated the hillclimb course for the first time; in 2019 the car made an official run in 66.96 seconds.
Begun in 1995, this concours show takes place to the west of Goodwood House. Similar in format to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, entry is by invitation and the event is judged by a panel of celebrities and car designers from around the world.
From 2010 until 2018 the Moving Motor Show ran on the Thursday of Festival week, aimed at buyers of new cars and introduced partly in response to the cancellation of the British International Motor Show. It allowed participants to test cars on the course. The 2010 edition included the running of the new McLaren MP4-12C. From 2019 the Festival became a four-day event without the Moving Motor Show.
Popular attractions include real-life replicas of the Wacky Races cars and airshows that typically feature the RAF and Red Arrows. Past flybys have included an RAF Tornado, a low-flying Boeing 747 in 2004 and 2005, and a low-flying Airbus A380 in 2008. From the Festival's beginning, poster art was illustrated by renowned motor racing artist Peter Hearsey until his retirement in 2015; in 2016 the poster was designed by Klaus Wagger. FOS events include "balcony moments" where motorsport stars are interviewed on the Goodwood House balcony; notable balcony appearances have featured MotoGP legends, Red Bull Racing, and seven F1 World Champions. Since 1997 the central display on the lawn in front of Goodwood House has been designed by sculptor Gerry Judah; Aston Martin set up the very first central display in 1993. The displays honoured car marques until 2017, when for the first time it honoured a career — that of Bernie Ecclestone.
The Festival of Speed has a sister event, the Goodwood Revival Meeting, normally held in early September, which relives the era of racing at the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit.
Two fatal accidents have occurred at the Festival. During the inaugural 1993 event, vintage racing motorcyclist Chas Guy was killed in practice after the completion of the course when his Vincent motorcycle developed a steering wobble known as a tank slapper, throwing him into a tree; since then motorcycles have not been timed. In 2000, driver John Dawson-Damer lost control of his Lotus 63, crashing into the finish line gantry and killing himself and a marshal, Andrew Carpenter; another marshal, Steve Tarrant, was seriously injured, losing a leg.
A Goodwood Festival of Speed event is available in Gran Turismo 6, with the 2014 and 2015 central displays shown. The nearby Goodwood Motor Circuit track is available in Gran Turismo Sport and Gran Turismo 7. ITV gives live coverage throughout the weekend; Sky Sports simulcasts the Sunday show. As of 2019 the event is also streamed on YouTube.
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